Richard sent us this panorama of Zambia’s only harbor at Mpulungu.
download high res panorama

Most Africans have black skin. Mine is white. It’s a simple fact. I was taught that it was like how some have brown eyes and others blue or green, it doesn’t matter and you shouldn’t care. But here, they know better.

Muzungu! Muzungu! Bonjour Monsieur Munzungu! Kids run after us. They yell, they scream. White person! White person! Hello Mr. White Person! You hear it from cars, from passing trucks, young, old but especially the rural poor. Though they’re truly uneducated, maybe an eighth grade education, they know that the average white person has more money than the average black person. It’s a simple fact. You want to believe it doesn’t matter, but it does.

This once, I got a flat tire right outside a roadside village and everyone came out to watch, from little kids to the village drunks. These two, maybe 13 and 14, they wanted to help. And no doubt, they were better at patching inner tubes than me. Cool. He asked me where I was from. America. Ah! America, where everything is good. I didn’t know how to respond. We started inflating the patched tube but the valve blew out and the tire shriveled. Their faces dropped. They couldn’t help me and I wasn’t going to help them. One of the kids asked, in America, there are jobs? In America, you just go to school? And that, that just breaks your heart.
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It took me three days to upload this video… Someday (maybe stateside) it’ll come to you in the full HD glory that was intended. Meantimes, I hope you enjoy!

Music >>>>
The Blue Danube composed by Johann Strauss.
When Morning Came written by Tim Durian and performed by the Trolleys. thetrolleysband.com
Every Dog Has It’s Day written and performed by Flogging Molly. floggingmolly.com

Lake Tanganyika!

We took the MV Liemba from Mpulungu in Zambia to Kigoma in Tanzania. It was insane. When we go on a cruise, we expect sunsets and pretty scenery. This, however, is the MV Liemba: yelling, banging, crying babies, chickens, people sleeping on top of cargo, people sleeping on people.

the MV Liemba

it was an unbelievable voyage, so much stuff on one boat, utlizing only canoes and a little crane

sunset n' cargo!

there were two lifeboats for 1600 people

A TV crew for the History Channel rented out the top deck. It was the only nice place on board because no one else was supposed to be up there.

Sunrise over our destination, Kigoma, Tanzania.

The MV Liemba is not for the claustrophobic!

on the second day, after it got just insane, women and childern were allowed to sleep on the floor of the 1st and 2nd class deck

the hallways were a mosh pit of sweat, mud and maize

3rd class was crowded. there were no beds, they just slept on top of each other

the main deck - nothing was strapped down, people slept on cargo, people slept on our bikes

the door in front of our 2nd class cabin was a puddle of mud, maize and unknown. people would walk barefoot, they slept on that floor.

there were no docks - canoes would tie up to the ship and people would climb onboard

the door in the boat people would climb / slash / push though to get onboard

it was crazy

the images speak for themselves

It was an experience. Especially as a TV crew from the History Channel rented out the boat, kind of, and were very happy to use their power as they pleased. I learned a lot. I’ll write more later.